A haunted estate in Scotland has been declared the “spookiest” place to visit this Halloween – and it just so happens to be the childhood home of the late Queen Mother.
Glamis Castle, a 700-year-old estate located in Angus, Scotland, has served as home to prominent members of Scottish and English royalty for more than a thousand years.
But alongside its grand history, the castle is also shrouded by a disturbing legacy of murder stories, such as the gruesome end of Malcolm II of Scotland in 1034, and reports of grisly encounters.
According to legends, the castle grounds were cursed long before construction began in 1372, as workers on a nearby hill at the time claimed to have received a chilling warning from an unseen presence.
The creepy voice supposedly sang: ‘Build not in this enchanted place, where man has neither part nor lot, but build in that swamp, where it shall not shake nor shake!’
Glamis Castle, located in Angus, Scotland, has been declared the ‘creepiest’ place to visit this Halloween
March 1935: Elizabeth, Duchess of York with her daughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose, arrive at Glamis Castle, Angus, to present the colors to the 4th and 5th Regiment of the Black Watch.
The castle’s list of ‘ghosts’ includes several legendary spirits, including the Tongueless Woman, a servant supposedly murdered after discovering a secret about the Earl.
Visitors claim that she appears with blood pouring from her mouth, having been silenced eternally.
The Gray Lady, or Lady Janet Douglas, the wife of the sixth Lord of Glamis, John Lyon, is another creepy entity believed to haunt the castle walls.
Accused of witchcraft by King James VI and me, she was burned at the stake, leaving her distraught spirit to wander the halls of her former home.
Reports on the number of ghosts in the castle differ, but it is believed that there are around nine, and each case surrounding the entities is as tragic or mysterious as the last.
Another story involves Thomas Bowes-Lyon, who is rumored to have been born severely deformed and hidden from public view.
Born in 1821, he is said to have survived for decades having only been given permission to go out at night and now haunts the castle.
Despite the brooding atmosphere of the sprawling estate, the Queen Mother held Glamis Castle in high regard and gave birth to the late Princess Margaret at the castle in 1930.
Queen Elizabeth photographed with Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose, Glamis Castle, Scotland, 1937.
Billiard room with a piano in the foreground, Glamis Castle, Angus, Scotland
Hall, Glamis Castle, childhood home of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (1900-2002), wife of King George VI and mother of Queen Elizabeth II
Chamber of the Queen Mother (Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon), Glamis Castle, Angus, Scotland, UK
Dining room, Glamis Castle, Angus, Scotland, UK
Even after her eventual move to London and her marriage to George VI in 1923, the Queen Mother continued to visit her childhood home until her death at age 101 in 2002.
The castle, which has 125 rooms, was originally gifted to Sir John Lyon, Thane of Glamis, by Robert II, and has since belonged to the family of the late Queen Mother.
Today the castle is under the care of Simon Bowes-Lyon, the 19th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, who maintains it as a public attraction.
The castle’s spooky appeal is undeniable, with 41 haunted keywords per 1,000 review entries on TripAdvisor.
Guests frequently report feeling touched by invisible hands, with one visitor calling it “a truly terrifying place, not for the faint of heart.”
The young Princess Elizabeth at Glamis Castle playing with a pony
King George VI following the coffin of his mother-in-law, the Countess of Strathmore, along with the Countess’s sons, Lord Glamis and David Bowes-Lyon, as her funeral procession left Glamis Castle on 27 June 1938.
The Duke and Duchess of York, later Queen Elizabeth (1900 – 2002) and King George VI (1895 – 1952), attend a garden party at Glamis Castle in Angus, Scotland
An early photograph of the Queen Mother (then Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon) and King Charles at the publicity service at Glamis Castle in 1910.
Glamis Castle, Angus
The legendary writer Sir Walter Scott also stayed at Glamis Castle in 1780, later confessing in 1930: “I must admit that, as I heard door after door close… I began to consider myself too far from the living and too close to the dead.” .’
For those brave enough, “Ghosts of Glamis” tours are available in October, with family-friendly and adults-only versions.
On TripAdvisor, one guest wrote: “Really scary people, not for the faint of heart.”
“If you want to go to a real haunted castle, put this at the top of your list.”
Meanwhile, another said a fellow castle guest claimed someone on his guided tour “complained about being touched by an invisible visitor.”
Meanwhile, the country mansion which Paul Burrell claims is haunted by Princess Diana’s ghost was previously owned by a close friend of the Queen, MailOnline has learned.
The former royal butler raised eyebrows this week with claims that his Cheshire home is apparently haunted by the former Princess of Wales, even though she never visited the property and he himself did not move into it until 20 years after her death. .
The faux Tudor mansion is actually owned by Burrell’s partner, retired trial lawyer Graham Cooper, 64, who appears with the butler on an upcoming episode of Celebrity Help! My House is Haunted on Discovery Plus.